Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun 4;8(7):ofab301.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab301. eCollection 2021 Jul.

Elevated Mortality Among People Experiencing Homelessness With COVID-19

Kathryn M Leifheit  1 , Lelia H Chaisson  2 , Jesus A Medina  1   3 , Rafik N Wahbi  4 , Chelsea L Shover  5
Affiliations

Elevated Mortality Among People Experiencing Homelessness With COVID-19

Kathryn M Leifheit et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

We reviewed publicly available data from major US health jurisdictions to compare severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 case fatality rates in people experiencing homelessness with the general population. The case fatality rate among people experiencing homelessness was 1.3 times (95% CI, 1.1-1.5) that of the general population, suggesting that people experiencing homelessness should be prioritized for vaccination.

Keywords: COVID-19; case fatality rate; homelessness; public health surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
COVID-19 case fatality in US health jurisdictions: PEH vs jurisdiction-wide March 1, 2020–February 28, 2021. CFRs for each jurisdiction and age category appear on the primary (left) y-axis, with estimates for PEH appearing in solid gray bars and jurisdiction-wide estimates appearing in hatched gray. The relative risk (ratio of PEH vs jurisdiction-wide CFR) appears on the secondary (right) y-axis, represented via forest plot. Abbreviations: CFR, case fatality rate; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; PEH, people experiencing homelessness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Roederer T, Mollo B, Vincent C, Nikolay B. Seroprevalence and risk factors of exposure to COVID-19 in homeless people in Paris, France: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Public Heal 2021; 6:E202–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maxmen A. Coronavirus is spreading under the radar in US homeless shelters. Nature 2020; 581:129–30. - PubMed
    1. Baggett TP, Keyes H, Sporn N, Gaeta JM. Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in residents of a large homeless shelter in Boston. JAMA 2020; 323:2191–2. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Imbert E, Kinley PM, Scarborough A, et al. . Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in a San Francisco homeless shelter. Clin Infect Dis. In press. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Leifheit KM, Linton SL, Raifman J, et al. . Expiring eviction moratoriums and COVID-19 incidence and mortality. Am J Epidemiol 2021. In press. - PMC - PubMed